As you get ready to wrap the ribbon around to create the tie, the pencil helps anchor the other loops.

Wrap that ribbon around...

...and knot it.

Fluff the ribbons and it’s good-to-go!

The original directions call for deeply fraying the ends. My lovely ribbon, which you can find atDames a la Mode on Etsy, is very lightly wired so I passed this step. The photos below capture the original directions, but you can also find them in the Hand-book on p96.